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But the vulnerable group showed greater atrophy than the control subjects, meaning their brain was not informing them they were in a risky situation.

In addition both areas showed greater connectivity to each other in the exploited group, suggesting less awareness of financial risk combined with a reduced sense for detecting deceit and fraud which can leave some older people at risk of being scammed.

The age-related changes can leave these adults more prone to financial exploitation, Mr Spreng, who directs Cornell's Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, said.

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The researcher hoped to conduct more studies to back up his findings

He said: “If older adults are, say, gambling, they get the same excitement that they might win something as younger adults do, but they don't have the same feeling of dread or disappointment for the losses.

"So, they're not as sensitive to losing money.”

The researcher hoped to conduct more studies to back up his findings, adding there was no time like the present as the older generation was currently the wealthiest ever.

He said: ”There's a huge amount of money locked up in our elders' assets. And people are actively pursuing them."